Academics

College of Agricultural Sciences celebrates outstanding students for 2018

Kurt Miller accepts the 2018 Outstanding Senior Award from Rick Roush, dean of the College of Agricultural Sciences. Credit: Penn State / Penn StateCreative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State's College of Agricultural Sciences recently recognized recipients of the Outstanding Senior Award and Outstanding Student Awards for the 2017-18 academic year.

The Outstanding Senior Award, sponsored by the College of Agricultural Sciences Alumni Society and the Coaly Society, honors the senior who best balances outstanding academics, extracurricular activities, work experience and communication skills. Candidates are selected based on resumes, grades, interviews and a short essay.

Kurt Miller, of Honey Brook, Pennsylvania, is the recipient of the 2018 Outstanding Senior Award. Miller will graduate in December with an animal science major and minors in poultry and avian science and in international agriculture.

Throughout his undergraduate career, Miller maintained exceptional academic success and excelled in hands-on experiential learning through several internships. Miller worked as an environmental education and animal behavior intern with the Philadelphia Zoo, and more recently, he worked in Arkansas with the largest broiler genetics company in the world, Cobb-Vantress Inc.

While at Penn State, Miller received two undergraduate research grants and gained valuable experience he said complemented his classroom learning. In addition, Miller is the co-founder and past president of Students for Cultivating Change, a group working to promote inclusion and visibility of the LGBTQA students in the College of Agricultural Sciences.

Robert L. Sefton III, of York, was this year's recipient of the Golf Course Turfgrass Management Program Award. Prior to joining the Penn State community, Sefton obtained a bachelor's degree in public relations, with minors in philosophy and speech communication from York College of Pennsylvania.

Sefton's professional goals always have included making an impactful difference and becoming an expert in his chosen field. After working with two Penn State alumni at the Country Club of York in golf course greens and grounds maintenance, he decided to further his education in turfgrass science at Penn State.

Sefton completed an internship at the Country Club of York and has accepted a position at the Bald Head Island Club in Southport, North Carolina.

Levi Canon, of West Middlesex, Pennsylvania, received the 2018 Forest Technology Program Award. Canon graduated in May with an associate degree in forest technology from Penn State Mont Alto and is considering continuing his education next fall at the baccalaureate level in forest ecosystem management.

Canon is described as an excellent student, class leader and an Academic All-American. He has demonstrated leadership as the president of the Forestry Club and as a member of the Woodsmen Team, a club sport at Mont Alto, and the cross-country team.

Canon is exploring natural resource careers and had a full-time arboriculture internship with Bartlett Tree Experts in Irwin, Pennsylvania, last summer. This summer, he is applying to work with the U.S. Forest Service on a trail crew in California.

Last Updated June 5, 2018

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